Sunday, October 11, 2015

Arul: Goalkeeper Ridzwan let us down...

MALAYSIA were humbled 4-2 by Sultan of Johor Cup silver medallists Britain at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru yesterday. A hat-trick of penalty corner goals from skipper Luke Taylor doused Malaysia's fire after coach Arul Selvaraj's boys came back from two goals down to hold Britain 2-2. "Many things that went wrong but the worse was our goalkeeper. Extremely poor goalkeeping from Ridzwan Azmi and he has to take responsibility for this defeat because he let in three soft goals," said Arul. Arul also took to task the three senior players in the team for not carrying their weight: "Three players who have played with the senior side in many tournaments also had a poor outing and they should take part of the blame too. I hope this does not happen in Kuantan (Junior Asia Cup)." The three experienced players are Shahril Saabah, Haziq Syamsul and Meor Azuan Hassan. Malaysia played well in attack and defense to keep Britain busy and it was an entertaining match which was truly enjoyed by the capacity crowd. Fitness was on Malaysia's side, as they ran circles around the British, but could not find the mark as the match reached the 30th minute mark. Britain won the first penalty corner of the match in the 25th minute but the ball hit the bar. However, in the 32nd minute, skipper Luke Taylor's second penalty corener attempt was palmed by goalkeeper Ridzwan Azmi, but the ball rolled in for the lead. Immediately upon restart, Malaysia won their first penalty corner but poor trapping saw them trailing 0-1 at the half-time break. Malaysia bungled their second penalty corner as well in the 44th minute, and Britain mounted a counter-attack to score their second goal off Robert Gleeson. However, the Malaysian side kept fighting and Azwar Rahman scored the first off a field attempt in the 48th minute, while Shahril Saabah equalised at 2-2 in the 50th minute off Malaysia's third penalty corner. However, Brtain re-took the lead in the 62nd minute, when Taylor scored his second off another penalty corner. Luke got his hat-trick in the 68th minute, and it was all over for Malaysia. Defending champions India hammered Pakistan 5-1, to confirm their favourites tag. At half-time, India took a comfortable 4-0 lead into the dressing room. The India goals were scored by Ajay Yadav (fifth), Sumit Kumar (23rd), Armaan Qureshi (27th), Parvinder Singh (34th), Santa Singh (60th). The Pakistan consolation was scored by Muhammad Dilber in the 45th minute. In the first match of the day, debutants Argentina beat Australia 1-0 when Ladislao Gencarelli scored off a declection in the 65th minute. Argentina play Malaysia today, and coach Mariano Ronconi will be sending his team one to the pitch 'blindfolded'. "Frankly speaking, I don't have a clue about the Malaysian team but that is not a problem as we are going to play to our strength and learn as well as adapt as the agame progresses," said Ronconi.RESULTS: Argentina 1 Australia 0, India 5 Pakistan 1, Malaysia 2 Britain 4. FIXTURES: Oct 12: Australia v Pakistan (4.35pm), Britain v India (6.3pm), Malaysia v Argentina (8.35pm). Oct 13: REST DAY. Oct 14: Britain v Pakistan (4.35pm), Argentina v India (6.3pm), Malaysia v Australia (8.35pm). Oct 15: Pakistan v Argentina (4.35pm), Britain v Australia (6.3pm), Malaysia v India (8.35pm). Oct 16: REST DAY Oct 17: Argentina v Britain (4.35pm), Australia v India (6.3pm), Malaysia v Pakistan (8.35pm). Oct 18: Final and placing matchesSTANDINGS P W D L F A PtsINDIA 1 1 0 0 5 1 3BRITAIN 1 1 0 0 4 2 3ARGENTINA 1 1 0 0 1 0 3AUSTRALIA 1 0 0 1 0 1 0MALAYSIA 1 0 0 1 2 4 0PAKISTAN 1 0 0 1 1 5 0

ALWAYS HAPPY

ON A HIGH

Always Somewhere..

Sports Journalist with the New Straits Times since 1994.
My main beat is field hockey, so this blog will have stories that I have written for the NST, as well as hockey news from around the globe. There will be regular updates. I was also the Secretary General of the National Press Club, Malaysia for three terms (six years).